Although Denmark is not a well-known country today when it comes to motorcycle manufacturing, it should be noted that a little over a century ago, the story of a brand called Nimbus began to take shape in the Nordic country. Its career began in 1919 and, until 1960, it maintained the production of strikingly aesthetic models powered by four-cylinder engines.
Now, the Nimbus firm is coming back to life thanks to an electric motorcycle project that is inspired by the appearance of its gasoline-powered ancestors. The original models that were born in 1919 were made by the Danish pioneers of vacuum cleaners Fisker and Nielsen, who at that time decided to enter the motorcycle industry (today, the manufacturer of industrial cleaning machinery Nilfisk, heir to that time, still exists).
The first Nimbus motorcycle was the so-called 750 cc "Stovepipe", which featured a rather advanced for the time in-line four-cylinder engine mounted longitudinally on its frame. This solution was similar to that used by the American motorcycle manufacturer of the time called Excelsior-Henderson.
A redesigned model, the Type C, appeared in 1934 with a new overhead cam engine of much the same design and a telescopic fork. This bike remained the only one in the Nimbus range until 1960, when production came to an end. And it is that, in those years, the landing and expansion of relatively affordable small cars began to displace motorcycles in Denmark.
Now, it seems that the brand is on the way to a "revival" thanks to Claus Clausen, founder and commercial director of Nimbus Motorcycles Danmark A/S, who has brought back Nimbus after more than six decades. Times change and this time, the project is based mainly on an electric motorcycle named Type E that retains, yes, the style of the old Type C.
Nimbus' new path kicked off in 2020, when Clausen licensed the brand name. The new electric motorcycle is expected to be unveiled during the summer of 2024, with production starting in the spring of 2025. Technical details have yet to be revealed, but the company has released CGI images of the motorcycle, as well as an electric bicycle that is also expected to later join the range.
As for the motorcycle, it is a vehicle with a chassis reminiscent of the original Nimbus but, obviously, with various variations adapted to current times. In the location where the motor would normally be located, there will be a battery that will feed an electric motor, housed in the rear of the motorcycle.
For its part, an instrument panel with a TFT screen will dominate the central area of the handlebars. To know aspects such as power, autonomy and, of course, the price of the vehicle will still have to wait. If you are interested in seeing some details of the manufacture of the old Nimbus motorcycles of the last century, you just have to take a look at the video that accompanies this article.
